France's Macron, China's Xi agree to advance on cognac trade dispute

PARIS (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron and China's President Xi Jinping agreed in a phone call to advance as quickly as possible towards ending a dispute over cognac tariffs, Macron wrote in a post on social media platform X on Thursday.

Macron, who spoke to Xi ahead of his trip to Southeast Asia starting on Sunday, said he reaffirmed that Chinese investments were welcome in France but that companies must enjoy equitable conditions in the two countries.

"It's a fundamental point," Macron wrote.

After trade tensions flared between Beijing and Brussels, China began an anti-dumping investigation into European Union brandy in January. It was extended in April, giving EU exporters more time to find a way to avoid Chinese penalties.

In France, the Chinese anti-dumping probe is regarded as retaliation for Paris' support for EU tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles.

Separately, Xi said China and France, both permanent members of the United Nations' Security Council, should strengthen cooperation to maintain the rules of international trade, the world economic order and practice "genuine multilateralism," according to China's state broadcaster CCTV.

"The more complicated the international situation becomes, the more China and France should make the right strategic choices and work together to be a reliable force in maintaining international order," Xi said, according to CCTV.

"China has always regarded Europe as an independent pole in the multi-polar world, supports the EU in strengthening its strategic autonomy and playing a more important role in international affairs, and is willing to join hands with the European side to tackle global challenges and reach more results that benefit both sides and the world," he added, according to the CCTV report.

China and the European Union, in which France is a major player, are both also separately embroiled in trade disputes with the United States.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Makini Brice in Paris and Ethan Wang in Beijing)